About the artist
Eden is a British-born contemporary artist, creating celebratory paintings of women.
Why do you only paint Black and Brown women?
My motivation is straightforward: I want to empower women from my culture. While every woman deserves recognition, representation is critical. It's no secret that black women artists are underrepresented in galleries worldwide. According to a recent study, black women make up only 0.5% of acquisitions at 31 U.S. art museums. Given that there are over 40 million black women living in the U.S. compared to only 2 million in the UK, it's reasonable to assume that the UK's statistics are considerably worse.
Honouring women of colour through my art is my way of making a small change in what should already be a diverse field. It brings me immense joy when women from my background express their appreciation for seeing art that looks like them. Why wouldn't I do this?
What are your art goals?
Well, my ultimate goal is to be successful in what I do.
- I want my art in as many homes as possible!
- I want my art in galleries worldwide
- I want to inspire the younger generation to see art as a career
- and last but not least I want to continue to progress
Why art?
It’s always been art, it’s just taken me a while to realise it! One of my youngest memories is me sitting at the top of the stairs of my childhood home and staring out of the window whilst I spent hours on a landscape drawing of the back garden. Another memory was being in secondary school and regularly being asked to draw portraits for other students. We all thought they looked amazing at the time but having looked back at some of my drawings… very questionable portraits 😂.
I even studied art when I went to sixth form. I only studied it for a year but one of my biggest regrets is that I didn’t do it for two. It was the highlight of my sixth form experience - being able to have access to unlimited art supplies and just be in my element.
Art has always been apart of my life, I just never realised that it could be more than a hobby. The only artists that were showcased in my art classes were Vincent Van Gogh, Andy Warhol and Leonardo da Vinci. Having not seen any female artists or even black artists, you start to believe that unless you’re a middle aged man with an edge you won’t get far in that field.
However, luckily for me it’s now a reality! Although the art world is still very much a male dominated industry, I’m glad to be apart of it and I hope I can make a change and inspire future generations to choose this path also. As cliche as it sounds, together we can make a change and i believe the future is most definitely bright for an unbiased art world.
